Women's Tennis

Santa Clara Puts Up a Fight in Defeat

Jan 28, 2006

Jan. 28, 2006

Eugene, Ore. - The Santa Clara women's tennis team may have gotten off to a rocky start in 2006, but it hasn't been because of a lack of effort. Santa Clara was defeated tonight 6-1 by Boise State at a neutral site in Eugene, Ore., but head coach Damon Coupe couldn't be more proud of the way his team fought and battled for every single point, even after the dual match had been decided.

"Regardless of the outcome the past two days, the girls absolutely competed and fought as hard as they can. We played two really good teams on the road and they did everything the coaching staff asked," commented Coupe. "There's no way we can be upset with their effort and we were really pleased with how they played."

After taking the early 1-0 lead thanks to the sweep of matches in doubles, Boise State found its hands full with the feisty Santa Clara squad, which played with heart, desire and effort on every point, which reflected in many of the scores. Casey Knutson tallied the lone SCU point with a gutsy 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Jana Mackova over on Court 5. Stephanie Galainena dropped her match in straight sets, but took her opponent, Tatiana Ganza, to the limit at the No. 3 position with scores of 7-5, 7-5, while Kelly Leathers lost 7-5, 6-3 to Megan Bjorkman at the No. 1 spot and Hadley MacFarlane had a difficult time with Samantha Georgino, ultimately winning 6-3, 7-5. Kim Daniel and Erika Barnes also gave their Boise State rivals a fight in their respective matches before losing.

Santa Clara drops its record to 0-3 on the year, but it has a chance to earn its first victory of the year tomorrow morning when it travels to nearby Portland, Ore. to take on fellow West Coast Conference rival Portland. Game time is set for 8 a.m.